


Splinters of Bone and Freedom

by ladyjssem



Series: Freedom of the Soul [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Romance, Soulmates, sin?, smut?, we'll see might be!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-02-07 13:54:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12842586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjssem/pseuds/ladyjssem
Summary: A look at the thoughts, mindsets, and reactions of our favourite skeleboys!Additions to Freedom of Your Own! Might contain spoilers!!





	1. Bone Pick 1

**Author's Note:**

> Collecting all my Bone Picks so you all don't have to follow my Tumblr to enjoy them!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans PoV Before Meeting Rhia

Sans sat, scrubbing his sockets, as the war continued on his laptop screen. Undyne was persistent; that's the one compliment he could give her at the moment. Stubborn...a quick glance made way for real worries, and he gave a loud groan. Papyrus had joined the opposing side.

"y'know if ya keep makin' noises like that, people'll start to wonder," Stretch commented from his own spot at their work table in the library. Sans glared but there was no real threat. "sup?"

"Undyne wants us to rent out the guesthouse to a friend of hers," he grumbled, and Stretch shrugged in response.

"and?"

"female."

"and...?" Stretch drawled, earning another grumble as Sans shot another argument into the fray. More retorts and counter-arguments, along with the usual threats.

"she's human." 

Stretch paused a moment. He closed his laptop down and stood, moving to Sans' side and glancing towards the ongoing chatbattle. Sans didn't show the whole reason the human girl needed a place to stay, but did let Stretch see Undyne, Alphys, and now Papyrus lay it on thick.

"seem to really like the lady."

"Paps has never met her."

"not who I was talkin about." Sans slumped a bit. Great... 

"put it to a vote." Now Sans glared.

"you know the majority will be ‘yes,’ right? Blue, Red, G, and Paps would all agree in a heartbeat knowing it's a human female in trouble. and you know Red and G will try somethin'."

"what sort of trouble?" 

Sans paused and said slowly, "not her fault trouble? from the sounds of it?"

"hmm."

"this is crazy, right? why doesn't Undyne bug one of the former guard dogs? they have decent places and aren't in our...predicament." 

Stretch sniggered at that, sitting in the window seat behind Sans and opening the window before pulling a cigarette from his orange hoodie pocket. He offered one to Sans, but the skeleton only shook his head, earning a shrug before Stretch lit his up. "so why do they?" 

Sans had typed in the question and sighed as he read over the reasoning. "she wants/ needs to be out of Restdon. family connections causin' issues if she stays." 

Stretch frowned now. "dangerous?"

"annoying. step-dad is a firefighter." 

Stretch relaxed a bit, nodding. "better than criminal. but yeah, annoying. and makes a good reason for her to stay."

"Stretch..."

"Undyne and Alphys trust her, right? like, look, they're saying she'll pay rent and shit." 

Sans scoffed. "we don't need it."

"she might, though."

"we don't even know this girl. and what about our issue? what about _all_ our issues?" 

Stretch shrugged, then pointed out, "she'll live in the guesthouse. we make it clear we're okay, but not really looking for friends."

"won't work for Blue and Paps."

“no, but will for the rest. two friendly skeletons vs. a bunch of neutral ones. she'll just hang with them and be no problem. until she finds a better situation." 

Sans groaned, then finally tapped into the chat, “fine. but she comes alone. need to meet her without someone to butt in. not you either, Paps." There were some arguments, and Sans fully expected the human to say no. He was completely surprised when she said yes.

 

The next afternoon, all the skeletons knew they would be housing a guest. Serif was up in arms about the situation and only agreed to meet so he could tell them to fuck off. Red and G, of course, were eager to meet the human woman. Sans had been a bit surprised to find she was actually 22. She should have been more than old enough to move out before shit hit the fan. But from the answers Undyne had given... It sounded like a worse situation than he'd originally thought.

Sans had spent all night awake and had only briefly remembered to send the human directions to the house. Their little spot of land was heavily forested and the driveway was only paved near the garage. He had asked Ink to send her s map of the area as well.

At 1 pm all the skeletons began to wait, (im)patiently, for the human, Rhia, to arrive.

At 2:45 pm, they got a message that Rhia's ride had backed out so she had to get a cab.

At 4:30 pm they received a message that Rhia's cab had been travelling the wrong way, and now were going to have to drive back to go the right way. Sans actually felt terrible for laughing at that, but it was so bad he had to. The skeletons amused themselves with binge watching.

Finally, at 6:50 pm they got a message letting them know she was there... at the delivery address. The one that led to nowhere. The skeletons would always wait in the middle of their woods for a delivery, and never let any human delivery person near the house, just in case. Paranoia was rampant among the skeletons, and they all knew it, but bad experiences had taught them to be cautious.

The skeletons were a bit fed up by now, and Sans found himself agreeing to spooking the human. She'd have to get used to it since G and Red loved scaring humans. But he didn't want her to be here, so why not have a little fun? Even if he felt his soul squeeze in guilt…he didn't want her here.


	2. Bone Pick 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serif's PoV Meeting Rhia

It had gotten dark by the time they neared the human. Serif was still seething. Why the FUCK would "Sans" agree to letting a fucking human in their HOME?? Or…or…gah! Shit! Damnit! Stupid, stupid...he had enough trouble around Frisk, the "angel of the Underground,” yay-this-timeline, bullcrap. He hated it here. He missed his home, his brother, he missed—

"What the _hell_ does this mean!?" A clear, female voice shrieked, not so far away. Serif growled in anger, sinking deeper into his hoodie, a flicker of magic around his eye. Red stood beside him, grinning that idiotic smile and rubbing his hands together.

"oooh, sounds like someone's ready ta party."

"you are an ass."

"least i ain't got a fuckin' stick up me," Red responded almost cheerfully. Serif couldn't help a snarl, but Red just ignored him. But the yell made Serif curious, and then he was confused why he was curious. He grumbled, but let himself join in the fun. Maybe scaring her off would help.

Watching Red flash his red eye, then G snatching the woman's phone with magic, was rather amusing. He was confused how the woman spoke, though. How she didn't scream. How she actually started to sound annoyed...threatening them with Undyne. She had bent down, carelessly looking like she was retying her shoe. Something was...what?

Then big, fat Red opened his big, fat mouth, and the human managed to nail Red right in the skull.

Serif's jaw dropped, and along with everyone else, he burst out laughing, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from the woman. Her eyes were bright, but the blue colour oddly dim, and her long, black, braided hair had flipped over her shoulder in her pitch. An annoyed look was clear on her face.

She...was beautiful.

Why was she beautiful...?

Serif barely even listened to the banter between Sans, Stretch, G, and the woman. His soul was dancing in a way it hadn't in _years._ Even longer than he'd been stuck in this weird danceless timeline. He glanced at the human—Rhia, he remembered—and, with clenched teeth, he Checked.

Rhia

LV : 1  
EXP: 0

HP: 23/50

ATK: 4  
DEF: 80

She is so tired of feeling unwanted. Unloved.

Serif's soul lurched, when he caught a glimpse of the deep purple soul in front of him. Of the heavy sadness that made it dark, the emotional and spiritual wounds that only being in a good, safe environment would heal. He had gotten used to staying quiet, but had to clench his fist, so as not to exclaim at the feelings, knowing them too well. And so she couldn't notice that he could see her pain. 

He glanced around and caught Red's gaze. An odd look of sympathy was on the edgier skeleton's face. As well as shocked surprise. Pleasure? Shit...oh...OH! _Shit..._ He looked at Rhia, then around at all the skeletons around. This...was a problem.

But he couldn't bring himself to care.

Why couldn't he care...?

Of course then she said something jarring.

"Please. I'll try to get Undyne to come pick me up." The other skeletons were scrambling, trying to think of something to distract, their prank now completely in shambles. He forced himself to talk.

“thought you needed a place to stay, sweets?” 

She didn't look at Serif, for a moment, sadness, hurt, anxiety flashing over her too-honest face, her hand running over her opposite arm. Then she stopped and met his gaze, her eyes looking like they should be glowing. Why weren't they glowing?

"I don't want to stay somewhere I'm not wanted. Not any more.” 

Serif blinked and fell silent once more. It hurt...? Her thinking they didn't want her. But she couldn't know...a human...why did she have to be a _human_? This...he.… He stopped and listened to Red and Rhia. He could see it on all of the other skeletons' faces. They knew, he knew. Their souls were calling to hers. His soul.…

Serif stayed quiet for many, many moments. His sorrow, rage, and fear warred with the shock, elation, and fucking HOPE that finding his soul mate brought. How long had it been since he'd felt even a flicker of hope? And this goddamn _human_ walks in and…and...he shuddered, pain and despair once again trying to fill him, but that hope...that JOY was still there. A soul mate. A human. His soulmate. His...his human.

Soul mates were tricky things among Monsters. All monsters wanted to have one. Mates, bonds, etc, they filled a void, but never completely. Only with a soulmate could a monster reach their full potential. Could feel complete. Could...be completely happy and at peace. Not every Monster had a soulmate, or, well...maybe they did. Maybe they were humans too. That...could make sense. In a crazy, no-it-doesn't sort of way. But a human? After the hellspawn...? After everything that happened?

Looking at the human woman, he felt a small smile creeping onto his face. An ease in his soul. They...found their mate. Yeah, they'd have to share. But it wasn't too bad. She was what they needed. Even if she was supposed to be only _this_ timeline's Sans', he'd get a glimpse of that joy, of finding your missing half. And he'd be able to look forward to finding his...Rhia.

Serif clenched his hands in surprise and dismay. Would...would he have her? In his timeline? Would he...actually have a soulmate? This human's soul was already starting to bond with his own; if he focused, he could see the halo of colour forming, each skeleton's soul adding another colour to her own, helping to ease her sadness and her loneliness. He could also feel the bond forming around his own soul, healing the cracked surface just by being near. Easing his thrilling emotions. Leading him to a conclusion:

It didn't matter.

It no longer mattered that she was human.

It didn't matter he was in the wrong timeline.

Serif's soul _danced_ again, calling for hers. And when she looked at him, he could feel her soul calling him in turn. For the first time in who knows how many years, he could feel a real smile.

“let's get her to the house, Paps and Blue hopefully are done with dinner by now,” Serif said, turning then. They no longer needed a plan to get her to stay out of their lives.

No...

They needed a plan to keep her IN.


	3. Bone Pick 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch's PoV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You finally get to see Stretch's reasoning behind all this! Posted early for 200 kudos on Freedom of Your Own!

Ironic.

That's what this whole freaking thing was.

Fucking ironic.

Stretch had managed to convince Sans to let the human woman stay with them until she got back on her feet and find a better living situation. He had convinced him to make her pay at least something in rent, so she wouldn't feel like it was charity, because human pride hated that. _He_ had convinced Sans that they could play the distant game.

And the human woman that they had reluctantly agreed to house? Was Sans' soulmate.

Of _course_ it was.

The universe just loved to fuck them bareback.

But goddammit she was beautiful. For a human. No, Stretch corrected himself, that didn't matter, he actually liked humans, the good'uns anyway. No, she was beautiful no matter what. Her soul was so dark, with sadness that she tried so hard to hide when they first encountered her, that he couldn't see the colours. But laughter, apologies, a warm embrace...they went incredibly far, and the jewel tones of her soul came to life. She was beautiful, inside and out.

Stretch couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arm around her. Couldn't stop himself from keeping her close, even though he felt Sans already glaring. Sorry buddy, stop pussyfooting and _do_ something for once. All plans were thrown out the window, into the tip, and left to rot.

Soulmate.

None of the skeletons expected to actually have one. But here she was. With the most beautiful soul Stretch had ever seen, to boot. He supposed he had to think that, but it was true. Multiple colours, but unmarred, unmuddied.

Then Rhia came inside and met the last of the skeletons. And Stretch saw a problem. A big one. Blue and Rhia had a connection, as well. Small, fragile, but it would still be enough to make his cool li'l bro want to be more than just "platonic friends.” Which was bad. Fucking terrible, actually. Unlike all the other "Sanses", it was Stretch who had the same "frequency,” not Blue. He had the magic of Judgment, he was the watchman of the Underground. He was the Sans of his timeline. And Rhia was connected to all of the Sans. But, because of the incident that dragged them here, Blue had a touch of Stretch's soul. It was that touch that linked Blue and Rhia. And it was completely Stretch's fault.

It didn't help when Sans explained the entire situation. He'd gotten a feeling there was some heavy shit hanging over Rhia. You didn't have that dark a soul without reason, let alone the damage done to it. But a step-"ass" that literally got you arrested on a phoney prostitution charge? Well-known enough to make leaving impossible? Literally turning you into a cash-cow so your own mother could do whatever the fuck she wanted? That was more than just "annoying". It was infuriating. He was sure (he hoped) that he'd be just as pissed off if it was just a random human friend. But knowing what you had gone through made his magic boil. Made all of them angry.

Stretch spent most of the evening either internally freaking out or trying to figure out a solution. He didn't want his bro to get hurt. He didn't want Rhia to get hurt. Being connected with such a weak bond would end up hurting them more. And Blue undoubtedly had a proper soulmate somewhere. He deserved one, far more than Stretch did. 

Why was this so complicated?

Stretch followed Ink into the little guesthouse. It was comfortable enough. He wouldn't mind something like it, anyway. The mansion that they were living in was almost too much, some days. He had a feeling Rhia would like living in the small guesthouse, with endless visits, of course. Ink and Stretch managed to get everything working, the lights of the house turning on and making it really feel homey.

Chore done, they went outside, where Ink stopped just outside the door, his weird eye-lights turning bright. Curious, Stretch looked up and had to grin. Sans and Rhia were very close together, Sans' skull a cyan blue while Rhia's cheeks were a soft rose. Finally made a move, huh? Too slow.

"think that oughta do it," Stretch said loudly enough to startle the pair, and he grinned at seeing them leap apart. Sans shot Stretch a questioning glare as soon as Rhia moved inside. Stretch just gave him a lazy half-shrug in response, before mumbling quietly, “too slow, want her first? stop bein’ a wimp.” The scathing glare Sans gave him was belied by the bright blue colour of his facial bones, and Sans decided to just keep quiet. Much to Stretch’s amusement.

It was almost heartbreaking seeing Rhia nearly break down over the little guest house. It was smaller than Stretch and Blueberry’s place, in their Underground. It was nice, but the emotions that swirled around her soul showed how badly off she had been. Stretch watched tears threaten to fall from her striking and wonderful violet eyes. It hurt his soul to see, but it was worth it. 

And once they got upstairs, the emotions that filled Rhia’s soul seemed to overflow with the thought of making the place her own. She ended up hugging Sans and Ink tight, pressing her soft lips on their skulls. And Stretch finally got an idea.

“hey, where’s my kiss?” Stretch asked, teasing and winking. Making light humour, it was easy enough, he needed her to stay elated, focused on the high emotion of the moment. Rhia, as he hoped, had laughed, and opened her arms for a hug as she came towards him. Sans was looking suspicious, and Ink watched on as he always did. He couldn’t worry about that, at the moment. 

Stretch folded his arms around her, enjoying how soft she was, how sweet she smelled. He waited until the last second to turn his skull, pressing firmly against those sweet, soft lips. How he wanted to revel in the kiss, his magic flaring and caressing her. Stars, she made such wonderful sounds, but he had to focus. Kissing her deeply he let his magic sooth her as he drew his attention to the small bond connecting his awesome brother and Rhia. He’d feel guilty later. Right now, though, he focused on the part of the bond that was actually his and made it move to his own bond with Rhia, causing Blue’s to shrink, and weaken further. 

That was enough for now. 

Pulling away from Rhia, Stretch couldn't help the pride and smugness he felt. Stars above, she was beautiful, her skin flushed, her lips parted in surprise and want, and her eyes properly glowing with emotion and the magic he just used on her. It took everything to step away, pull one his lollipops from his pocket, and move with his normal carelessness. He really… _really_ wanted to kiss her again. Without using magic to remove a bond that shouldn’t be there. Just…he wanted to enjoy having a soul mate. He wanted to enjoy _his_ soul mate.

Then Sans grabbed him and dragged him down down the stairs. Stretch didn’t bother fighting, he had known this was coming. Sans didn’t stop until he was just outside the front door. The shorter, original skeleton was shaking and looked torn between yelling and crying. Guilt hit Stretch like a load of bricks, but he sighed and looked at Sans in the eye lights.

“you know why i did that,” he said simply, and Sans growled, and shook his head disparagingly.

“just…lemme be the one to show her her soul…please.” Stretch shrugged his shoulders and gave an easy grin, rolling the lollipop in his jaw.

“ain’t no skin off my figurative nose, but’cha know ya gotta move a bit faster, buddy, or else the others’re gonna beat’cha to the punch.” He paused a moment, then nodded towards the stairs, “think Ink’s been alone with her for long enough, ya?” 

Sans facepalmed, and groaned, before turning and shouting, “Ink!” 

Stretch just grinned, Sans’ll get it. 

And Stretch’ll finally be able to actually enjoy having a soul mate for a while.


	4. Bone Pick 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red's PoV 
> 
> Also how Ink learns about Rhia in the first place 
> 
> Loooooong Over Due.

Soul mate, huh?

A bit damaged. The fucking bleeding hearts got her soul to start shining, of course. But Red was far more interested in the fine spiderweb cracks. The faint scars left over that no "good will" could fix. She was lucky she had a Perservering soul. She'd be a shell otherwise. Even the brat's Determined soul would be hard-pressed to stay in one piece with the amount of damage lain there.

Would she actually be worth it?

Red could definitely see she was HOT as FUCK. Long black hair, kinda weird blue eyes, verrry biteable lips, a great rack, and hips that wouldn't quit. A bit chubby maybe but he preferred that. He'd gotten a taste for human women in his time in this weird timeline. She definitely ticked quite a few boxes.

The others looked at the lack of LOVE and exp as a good thing. It made Red look closer at those cracks. She was lucky.

He wondered if she'd break.

Red found she was easy to rile up. She jumped at the silliest fucking thing. He grinned as she eyed him suspiciously; she had some fire there. How much, though? The others were so distracted with Rhia and all that shit that they'd forgotten Ink with his "project," whatever the fuck it was. He wanted to rub this new development in the hack' s stupid face anyway.

To: Hack Artist From: Redominator 7:36pm  
Missing out chick is here and is a b a b e.

To: Hack Artist From: Redominator 7:36pm  
Also soul mate

To: Hack Artist From: Redominator 7:37pm  
Do you even know what that means, freak? XP

Red grinned, feeling smug. That'd show the fucker. Then his phone began to vibrate.

To: Redominator From: Hack Artist 7:37pm  
OMG

To: Redominator From: Hack Artist 7:38pm  
OMGOMGOMG

The fuck?

To: Redominator From: Hack Artist 7:38pm  
Rhiastone is soul mate OMG

What?

To: Redominator From: Hack Artist 7:38pm  
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

The?

To: Redominator From: Hack Artist 7:39pm  
[Media attached]

Frowning, Red clicked the video and blinked. It was the video he'd watched before. The hot-sounding chick who was cursing and raging at Dark Souls 3. The chick that he had been honestly obsessing over. She didn't do many videos with her face visible, but she was another hot-as-fuck chick who played video games. To say he had been obsessing over her was an understatement. He had saved some of her videos for his solo-sexcapades. What....

Then it hit him, hard. Rhia. Rhiastone. Not even that much difference. He froze, sweat prickling at his skull. Oh _shit...._

Embarrassment made Red scramble down the hall, earning a confused look from the object of his online obsession. Ink was doing a little dance outside the library, looking like he was over the fucking moon. Seeing Red pass, Ink shot him a _far_ too-smug, far too-knowing smirk. Fucking voyeuristic HACK!

Red slammed the door of the bathroom closed behind him, and gripped the sink hard in his claws. Holy fucking shit. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Rhiastone was his soul mate, the gamer chick who made him howl with laughter, buy the fucking game, then stalk her gaming accounts…

Red magic dripped from his skull, as Red stared in the mirror. Slowly, oh so slowly, he began to grin. For once, since he’d known the hack, he agreed with Ink. He’d never, _ever_ admit it of course. For once, he was excited about really getting to know a human.

He wondered how much fun he’d have with her.


End file.
